Surprises
by KateInSpace
Summary: While Bill and Laura continue to explore their developing relationship, people and situations on the Galactica get in their way, including a map that may just lead to Earth. Takes place after A Day in the Life and AU after that.
1. Chapter 1

Bill Adama was comfortably asleep in his warm rack when his phone buzzed. He opened his eyes and absent mindedly took the phone off the wall and answered, "Adama."

"Bill, it's 0900, where the hell are you?" Saul Tigh's voice yelling at him from the other end of the phone was definitely not the first thing Bill wanted to hear in the morning. He looked over at his clock, cringed at his apparent tardiness for his shift in CIC, and swung his legs out of the rack and planted his feet firmly on the floor.

"I'll be right there Saul." Bill hung up the phone and turned to look at the woman in his rack who was slowly waking up and had just placed a delicate hand on his arm.

"What time is it Bill?"

"We overslept, Laura. It's 0900."

Laura Roslin, President of the Twelve Colonies, groaned and turned over, pushing her head into the pillow, hoping for five more minutes of rest before returning to the chaos that had become routine during her fateful presidency.

Bill chuckled at the sight of his lover's futile attempt at more sleep and gently rubbed her back. "Laura, if I have to get up and work, so do you."

"No I don't, I'm in the Admiral's quarters and I'm working on military-civilian relations . . ."

Before Laura could finish her protestation Bill began to tickle her side, making her wiggle out of her comfortable position. "Fine, fine! I'm up!"

"Good." Bill started getting dressed and tossed Laura her clothes that she had neatly folded and set on the leather chair the night before. "Don't forget about tonight. I don't want to get a call from Tory saying that you had to miss Saul's birthday dinner because you had a meeting with Tom Zarek that ran late."

"I wouldn't miss Saul's birthday for all the tyllium in the universe. I hear Captain Thrace has a surprise for him?"

"That's what Lee told me too. I don't know what it is though. Whatever it is I just hope it won't land her in brig." 

"I thought she and Saul were on considerably better terms after coming back from New Caprica?"

"You never can tell with those two." Bill glanced back at the clock. "I'm surprised Tory hasn't sent in an armed Marine guard to make sure I haven't kidnapped you. You might want to reconsider telling her about us. She's not our enemy, she could help create more official Presidential visits to Galactica . . ."

Laura smiled as she was pulling up her pantyhose, "Absolutely not, Bill. I just want to keep our relationship between us and it's too early for us to be having that argument again. I told her I was going to be spending part of the morning in Galactica's gym. And you're right, it really does smell like the inside of a shoe." Laura stood up in front of a fully dressed Admiral and he took her into his arms and kissed her quickly.

"We should probably get going. Looks like it's going to be a busy day."

Laura put her hand on Bill's neck and her eyes were intently focused on something specific she found there. As soon as she realized what it was, she began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Bill, um, I think you should go take a look in the mirror."

Bill eyed her suspiciously but did what he was told and walked into the head. He took one look at himself in the mirror and saw the large hickey that was prominently displayed on his neck. "Frak."


	2. Chapter 2

After escorting the President to the hangar bay to catch a shuttle to take her back to Colonial One, Admiral Adama walked into the CIC. He nodded to Lt. Dualla, his daughter-in-law, as he always did and approached the main console. He glanced around the room with a stoic gaze to silence anyone who might have even thought about whispering amongst themselves about the Admiral's whereabouts earlier in the morning. Being late for his daily shift was a rare occurrence for Adama and although he made sure his subordinates focused their attentions on their duties at the moment, he was sure that everyone on the Galactica would be spreading fresh rumors about the Admiral and the President by the end of the day. He smiled inwardly while maintaining his solemn appearance at the idea of everyone knowing about his relationship with Roslin. The mere thought of being able to be seen with her in public outside of the usual meetings, maybe even taking her to the observation deck . . .

"Sir." That was the second time Saul had interrupted a pleasant moment in Bill's morning. "Bill, I think you should see this." He handed the Admiral a map of the Lagoon Nebula, the location the Tomb of Athena on Kobol had told them would lead them to Earth, and Bill began analyzing it. Saul continued in a quiet voice, knowing that the information about to be revealed should remain confidential. "This antique map was found in a storage compartment that was sent over from the Pegasus before the settlement on New Caprica. Gaeta has taken a look at it and has been able to use some of the numbers and techno-mumbo-jumbo that Baltar has offered up during his stay in the brig to develop a sequence of jumps that he thinks will put us right outside of the Nebula."

"Why wasn't I told about this sooner?" Bill growled at his XO.

"With all due respect Sir, you were MIA this morning."

Bill grunted in slight agreement. "I want Gaeta to run these numbers again. Brief Mr. Agathon about the situation and have him report directly to me with a recon plan to begin exploring these coordinates, I don't want to run into any surprises if we decide to follow this map. For all we know, Baltar could be trying to send us directly into a cylon trap."

"Yes Sir." Tigh began to turn away to start executing his orders, but something caught his eye. "Uh, and Bill, what is that on your neck?" Bill shot Saul a look that could easily have killed, but Saul smirked and realized exactly what it was and exactly who gave it to him and just shook his head.

After ensuring that that was the end of his conversation with Saul, Bill's thoughts turned directly to Laura and how truly happy she would be to know that the promise of Earth was significantly more real than ever before. Although he knew that it would only fuel the seemingly incessant rumors, he had to tell Laura in person, had to see the look on her face when he showed her the map. "Lt. Dualla, please call Colonial One and request a meeting for me with the President at her earliest convenience, it seems that something quite important has come up."

"Aye Sir," Dualla replied.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the morning continued on schedule, as normal as any other day. Bill had returned to his quarters for lunch and was sitting at his desk reviewing some paperwork. A half-eaten bowl of algae-noodles was pushed away to the corner of the desk, he wasn't really all that hungry this afternoon, and he was sipping on a glass of water when Karl Agathon knocked on the hatch.

"Come in." Adama looked up from the papers to Helo who was standing in front of him, saluting, with a goofy grin on his face. "At ease." The Admiral gestured to the chair across from his desk and Helo sat down on the edge of the chair with a file in his hands.

"Sir, I just want to tell you what an honor it is to be involved with this mission. It feels incredible to know we are so close to Earth, so close to new lives and an end to this war." 

"Captain, I ensure you that I am as excited as you are at the prospect of all those things, gods know we deserve it, but I also want to warn you that at this point we should be careful to allow ourselves the luxury of dreaming of a new life until we are certain that this route will take us to Earth. That's the goal of your mission, Helo, to find out whether or not this is a safe and feasible concept and if it even leads to the Lagoon Nebula at all."

"Of course, Sir." 

"And I assume Colonel Tigh has explained to you the dire need for secrecy regarding your mission and the map to the Nebula. I don't need to tell you about the potential risks involved if the cylons were to find out."

"If you're referring to Sharon, I . . ."

"Captain Agathon, I was not referring to your wife. She has proven herself numerous times, I trust her, the fleet trusts her, there's nothing more to say about it. But there are countless ways this information could be handed over to the cylons and I want to take every possible precaution to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Yes Sir." Helo handed the file he was holding to Adama and began explaining his plan. "I've selected people for this mission that I know you trust implicitly. My plan is to send two Raptors that will execute each jump coordinate and obtain reconnaissance information about each one until they get to the Lagoon Nebula at which point they will turn around and return home."

"That's good Captain. I don't want them to attempt to contact the 13 Colony, that's something best left to the civilian government, our job is to just find a safe route there." He set down the file he had been examining and faced Helo. "Who are you planning to send on this mission." 

"I want to assign Starbuck and Racetrack to Raptor Alpha and I will go with Hotdog in Raptor Beta."

"Racetrack and Hotdog, interesting choices."

"Hotdog and Starbuck have done a lot of flying together over the last few years Sir, I think they will easily be able to anticipate each other's moves. Well, as much as anyone can anticipate Starbuck's. And Racetrack is becoming a very capable ECO."

"Why not send Apollo? He seems like a logical choice for this mission?" Adama wasn't trying to shamelessly get his son on such an esteemed mission, but they both knew that Apollo was a much better pilot than Hotdog and had been flying with Starbuck for much longer too.

"I felt it best not to send the CAG away on a mission that could take up to a week, Sir. If the cylons were to find the fleet while the mission team was away, it would be important for Galactica to have her CAG."

The Admiral nodded in agreement. "When can you have the team ready to go?" 

"I can have everything ready in two days."

Adama stood and Helo followed suit. When the Admiral walked around his desk and extended his hand to Captain Agathon, he eagerly took it. "I assume you'll talk to your team as soon as possible to begin prep for the mission, but I want for you to have your final pre-flight briefing in the ward room so you can brief myself, Col. Tigh, President Roslin, and a few others about your final plans. Thank you Captain."

Bill's phone buzzed and Helo saluted and quickly exited the quarters. Bill picked up the phone, "Adama."

"Bill, what's this I hear about something quite important that has . . . come up?" Laura giggled, hoping the slight sexual innuendo would get a reaction from him, but she was unfortunately disappointed.

"Yes Madame President, I acquired some information today that you would be very interested to see. If you would come over to the Galactica early tonight, before Saul's party, I would be very happy to share it with you. It concerns Earth."

"Earth?!"

Bill smiled at her enthusiasm. "I'll see you at 1800 then. Adama out." He hung up the phone.

On Colonial One, Laura still clung to the phone, anticipating a better explanation for what he wanted to talk about other than 'Earth.' "William Adama, I swear . . ."


	4. Chapter 4

"Tory, I won't be returning to Colonial One tonight, I think the Admiral had something he wanted to talk extensively about."

They were standing right outside of Bill's quarters and Laura's hands were fidgeting as she struggled to make up yet another explanation for why she would be spending the night on Galactica.

"Of course Madame President." Tory turned to leave, but decided to push an issue that had been on her mind since she overheard two young staff members on Colonial One talking in hushed voices about the Admiral's frequent personal appearances on the President's ship. "And Madame President, it's not in my job description to judge your personal life but rather to take care of your political career, so if there's anything you might want to tell me about the, um, nature of your relationship with the Admiral, please do."

"I'll consider that Tory, thank you and goodnight." Laura dismissed her aid abruptly, not wanting to have that conversation in the middle of Galactica, and opened the hatch and walked in unannounced. Bill was leaning over his desk shuffling some papers with his back towards Laura and hadn't noticed her come in. She walked up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist and let her hands drift up his chest. Bill was startled at first, but eased into her grasp and put his hands over hers. "Hi."

"Hi." He turned her around and put his hands on her hips and looked directly into her green eyes and softly kissed her as she clasped her hands behind his neck. "How was your day?"

"It was relatively uneventful. The Quorum meeting was pretty mundane and the plans for Baltar's trial are still on schedule." She placed a kiss on the back of his shoulder. "But that's not why you asked me to come over early, is it? You didn't want to just talk about my day . . ."

"No, I've got something to show you." Bill pulled away from her and led her to his desk, handed her the map of the Lagoon Nebula and apprised her of the situation.

Laura was thrilled at the prospect of Earth, the look on her face was everything Bill had hoped it would be, and she had to lean against the desk to ground herself. "After all this time on the run and the time on New Caprica, it's easy to forget that there might actually be an end to it all that doesn't involve the total decimation of our race. Are you as stunned as I am about this possibility, because you seem rather calm and, frankly, a little apathetic?"

Bill moved to rest his hand on her shoulder. "Of course I'm excited about it. But as I told you earlier, I'm hesitant to hope that this is the end of all our troubles. After all that's happened, it's seems almost too serendipitous to be true, that we are only a handful of jumps away from peace. Even if this does lead to Earth and even if we do successfully lead the people there, there are so many unknown variables that we can't calculate and there is no guarantee that the cylons won't follow us."

"Which is why humanity is lucky to be under the protection of Galactica and its very capable Admiral. I know this isn't going to be easy, but finding this map may be the best thing that's happened to us since the attacks." 

"Speak for yourself." Bill put his hand under her chin and moved his face just inches away from hers. "_You_ are the best thing that's happened to me since the attacks." He gently kissed her and then moved back to his desk and handed her a file. "This is all the information we have at this point, including information regarding the recon mission. It's all classified and I think we should keep it that way until Helo and his team get back, so if you can stifle the urge to have a press conference about it, I would be very grateful."

Laura playfully hit his arm, "I completely agree, Admiral, no press conferences. I don't want to unnecessarily raise the hopes of the civilians, not yet at least." She put the file into her briefcase and took off her jacket and carefully folded it on top. "Now, if we're done talking about business, isn't it about time we headed over to the party?"

"Yes it is, Madame President, and if you'll follow me I'll be happy to escort you to it."

She took his arm and followed him out the hatch.


	5. Chapter 5

The galley was full of laughter, something that had become a precious commodity recently. Saul didn't particularly like the idea of having a party for his birthday, but Bill said that he could either spend the night surrounded by friends or in the brig, the choice was up to him. Tigh had reluctantly agreed and although he wouldn't admit it, he was having a good time. A lot of people who had worked with him in the resistance on New Caprica were there, some he hadn't seen since the evacuation, and it was somewhat comforting to know that they still considered him a friend even after he resumed his duties as XO. He was actually rather surprised at how many people were there. '_If the crew doesn't hate the XO, he's not doing his job.' _ He laughed a little, wondering if Bill had given them the same ultimatum as he had been given to attend the party or if he was just getting soft without Ellen around. Tigh went back to the bar for the fourth time that night and started to pour himself another glass of ambrosia when an obnoxious and arrogant voice shouted at him from across the room.

"Hey Colonel, what are you drinking?"

"None of your damn business, Starbuck."

The room fell silent as Starbuck smiled and started walking towards him, motioning for Chief Tyrol to follow her. "Well, I'm about to make it my business." Starbuck turned to address everyone and said, "Colonel Tigh, in honor of your birthday, the Chief and I decided that there's only one gift that's fitting of the occasion. Since making it back from New Caprica there has been a significant lack of decent alcohol in the fleet, and we all know that the XO's not happy when he doesn't have a flask full of Caprica's finest hidden in his boot."

"What's your point, Starbuck?" Adama pointedly said to her, clearly letting her know that this was hardly the appropriate scenario to be picking a fight with Tigh.

"My point Sir is that the Chief and I have developed a remedy for the situation. Galen, if you'll do the honors." Tyrol handed a paper sack to Saul and when he pulled out a bottle of liquor, Starbuck continued. "Colonel Tigh, on behalf of the pilots and the deck gang, we are very pleased to present to you the first bottle of alcohol produced by the official Galactica Distillery. Go ahead, try it."

Not needing to be asked twice, Tigh unscrewed the cap and took a swig. He had prepared himself for some of the Chief's typical foul moonshine, but instead felt a strong warm liquid easily slide down his throat. "I'm impressed Starbuck, Chief. This isn't half bad, in fact, it's pretty good." He shook Chief's hand and would have shaken Starbuck's, but she wasn't done speaking.

"Thank you Sir, I'm glad you approve, because it's got your name on it. This particular brand is, for better or worse, named after you. It's called 'The XO.' And there's a whole lot more where it came from." The Chief started passing around a few other bottles for everyone else.

Noticing that Starbuck was done with her little speech, Adama decided to approach her and ask about this 'official Galactica Distillery' that he hadn't heard about. "Glad to know you have your priorities in order, Captain. Instead of refining the flying skills of new nuggets you've been generating bootleg alcohol." He smiled to let her know that he was joking.

"Strictly an off-duty venture Sir. You really should taste it though, Tyrol's got it down to an art."

"I'll be sure to do that."

Starbuck looked at the woman who was approaching them from behind the Admiral and let a mischievous smile creep onto her face. "I better go, your girlfriend looks like she wants your attention Sir." And she turned around to find Lee before Adama could say anything.

"I hope I didn't run her off," Roslin commented as she handed Bill a glass of the new liquor and tapped her glass to his. "Cheers." They took a long sip and enjoyed it and the moment, and Bill looked around to make sure no one could hear them before he continued the conversation.

"Did you talk to Tory? About us?"

"No Bill, I didn't. She knows though, or at least she thoroughly suspects." 

"Then you might as well tell her if she already knows that you're in a relationship with the most handsome man in the entire fleet." Bill smiled at her, taking another sip of his drink. And Laura almost spit out the sip she had in her mouth in amusement when all of a sudden the main door flew open and an obviously startled and scared marine walked in searching for the Admiral. When he found Adama, he managed a sloppy salute and the words just flowed out of his mouth almost incoherently.

"Admiral Adama, Sir, there's been an accident, a situation, I don't know."

"Calm down soldier. What happened." Adama's stomach sank as he thought about the number of things that could have happened. If there had been a cylon attack the klaxons would have gone off, but other than that the possibilities were endless.

"Gaius Baltar has escaped off the ship. Felix Gaeta, Lieutenant Gaeata, Sir, he's a cylon, he helped him. They left on a raptor not two minutes ago and jumped away. There are four marine guards dead that had been guarding him in the brig, Sir. I don't know about other casualties, but there had to be some people they encountered on their way to the hangar bay."

The room was silent and Laura instinctively grabbed onto Bill's forearm. "Oh my gods, Bill."


	6. Chapter 6

A copy of the cylon known as Felix Gaeta was sitting at the bar at Joe's, his uniform jacket hanging on the wall and nursing a glass of some cheap ambrosia when Helo, unaware of the recent development, sat down next to him and ordered an equally foul drink. "I take it you weren't invited to Tigh's birthday party either?"

Gaeta grunted, too drunk or otherwise distracted to give much attention to Helo.

"We aren't exactly best friends, me being a 'cylon-lover' and all. Still, it seems that the rest of the ship was invited. I don't give a frak, he's an incompetent asshole anyway." Helo threw back his shot, feeling the potent sting of the alcohol on the back of his throat, and motioned for the bartender to pour him another as he saw Sam Anders walk in. He yelled to him, "Hey Anders! Come have a drink." Sam smiled and started walking over to Helo when he saw the man, _thing_, sitting next to him. Almost instantaneously, Sam was in front of Gaeta, his fist colliding with the cylon's head. Helo immediately responded, "Hey, Sam, you've got to cool off, man. Whatever it is, you've got to back off."

"Helo, where the frak have you been? Gaeta's a frakking cylon! Another copy broke Baltar out of the brig about 30 minutes ago and stole a raptor, leaving a trail of dead soldiers in their wake." Sam made sure that the limp cylon on the floor was completely unconscious turned to another soldier that was sitting further down the bar with his eyes and mouth wide open and said , "Go find a marine, we have to get this to the brig." The soldier complied, picking up the nearest phone and informing CIC of the situation.

"Sam, are you sure Gaeta's a cylon?" Helo bent down to start tending to Gaeta's wounds, his iron moral compass telling him that whether or not he was a cylon he deserved medical attention.

"I was at Tigh's party when your colleagues were called to CIC because of it, yeah I'm frakking sure."

Helo was putting napkins on the bloody gash on Gaeta's head that he received when he fell off his barstool when Kara Thrace ran in, followed by five marines with their weapons drawn. After securing the room, the marines proceeded to handcuff the prisoner and escort him to the brig. Kara turned Sam and Helo, and after making sure they didn't sustain any injuries, she said, "How many undercover cylons are we going to find today, Sammy? At least this one didn't get the chance to do any damage. And I think the President will be thrilled to have one more chance to exercise her power to airlock these things." 

"It's not a _thing_, Kara, it's Gaeta."

"Yeah, well, unlike your wife, this one has just put the entire fleet in a hell of a lot of danger. And that little mission you and I are supposed to be going on in a few days, well, let's just say this probably puts a damper on things."

"Holy shit. It was Gaeta that plotted the jumps, that developed the whole thing, I didn't even think about that."

The shrill sound of the phone ringing cut through the tension that developed in the room. The bartender handind it to Kara, "Captain, it's for you." Kara took the phone and was greeted with the deep sound of the Admiral's voice.

"I want you to meet me in the holding cell in ten minutes. I want this cylon interrogated until we know absolutely everything about Baltar's escape and the road to Earth."

"Aye sir, see you in ten minutes." Kara hung up the phone and turned to Helo and Sam. "Well boys, as much as I would like to stay here and wind down in the bar with the two of you, duty calls." She started to leave when Anders called out to her.

"Hey, Kara. Be safe, ok?"

Kara noticed the sincerity in his voice and nodded and replied with just as much in hers before she left. "Yeah, I will be."


	7. Chapter 7

Laura Roslin had not let go of Bill Adama's hand for at least 45 minutes. Even when they had all rushed to CIC, she clutched to him, not wanting to let him go, not wanting to let go of the fleeting hope of building a life with him on Earth. She assumed that surely because of the events that had transpired that the newly discovered hope of Earth and all the dreams it brought with it had been destroyed in a matter of minutes. She figured that Gaeta and Baltar were probably being congratulated right now, they might even have a victory party thrown in their honor on a cylon baseship in some distant system. It made her sick to think that they were most likely handing a direct map to Earth over to the cylons. Laura didn't even let herself think of the inherent danger that the humans currently living on Earth had just been placed in. She squeezed his hand a little harder.

He squeezed it back and looked at her. "It's going to be ok, Laura." He tried to reassure her, and he knew it slightly worked as he heard her exhale a breath she had been keeping in. Bill knew that even after they had talked about the possibility of their route to Earth being unreliable to some extent, she had still allowed herself the comfort of imagining what it would have been like if it had worked. They turned a corner and found themselves in front of Bill's quarters. "I doubt we'll get much information out of the cylon tonight, I heard he was rather inebriated when they took him into custody, so I probably won't be gone that long." He didn't get a verbal response from her, just a look that showed him how overwhelmed she was. "I'll be back soon." He looked into her eyes, silently asking permission to pull her into a warm hug in plain sight. As soon as she saw the look in his eyes she rapidly wrapped her arms around him and he pulled her close, one hand rubbing her back and the other entwined in her hair, pushing her head to his chest. Laura's glasses started to bend and she pulled away and let out a defeated laugh. Bill gave her a strong smile and tried to lighten the mood by commenting, "Your glasses always get in the way of a good hug."

"Remind me to put in an order for contacts as soon as we reach Earth." She smiled a little bit, indulging in the joke. "I'll see you later. And try not to let Gaeta put a pen or any other convenient object in your neck, ok?"

He smiled back at her, remembering that Gaeta had done that to Gaius Baltar, and said, "I'll see what I can do." He squeezed her hand and watched her go into his quarters.

As soon as the hatch was secure, Laura went directly to the couch and collapsed. What had started out as a fun night had turned to one of the worst nights she'd experienced since the exodus from the Colonies. She knew that it was absurd to be so disheartened at the failure of the plan, other feasible strategies had been developed with the goal or reaching Earth and had failed, but this one was different for her. It was probably the timing of it; her relationship with Bill was in such a good place. They hadn't exchanged 'I love yous,' but that was just a technicality. She knew it was true even though they didn't really talk about their relationship much, maybe they just didn't have the time to. Laura thought back to the time on New Caprica, the night of the ground breaking. She remembered telling him about the cabin she wanted to build and how happy she had been when he had remembered her talking about it even months after she had mentioned it. When Bill had told her that they might have found a way to Earth, instead of thinking the relief that this would bring to humanity as a whole, the only thing she could think about was finding a place to build that cabin to make a home for the two of them. She and Bill hadn't talked about their future at all, maybe he didn't even want to settle down with her, maybe he would want to stay in the service or go into politics or be alone. It's the last part of that thought that bothered her, she couldn't imagine life without him. But it didn't matter now because it looked like they would be continuing their virtually aimless journey through space for a long time. Laura yawned and turned on her side to get more comfortable, and slowly drifted to sleep thinking about Bill and her lost cabin.


	8. Chapter 8

William Adama had served with Felix Gaeta for years and had never suspected him of being a cylon. He'd been a good soldier and loyal to humanity, even while on New Caprica when there were humans who weren't even loyal. There had been plenty of opportunities for Gaeta to have destroyed humanity all together and Bill's military instinct kept telling him that something about the entire situation just didn't fit.

He met Kara Thrace on the way to the brig and she looked almost pleased with the opportunity to interrogate a cylon. "Wipe that grin off your face, Captain. We're interrogating an enemy agent, this isn't some recreational sport." Kara straightened up and nodded to her superior officer as they continued down the hall. Bill knew that since New Caprica, Kara had a personal vendetta against every skinjob and she was unlikely to be phased by the fact that up until an hour ago they had thought that this man was an integral member of their family on Galactica. Adama briefed Kara about the situation and what information they were trying to extract from the cylon as they walked the rest of the way to the brig.

When they finally entered Gaeta's cell, he was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall with his head in his hands. It took him a moment to register that the Admiral was standing four feet in front of him. As soon as he realized it, Gaeta stumbled to a standing position and saluted. Bill's eyes narrowed and he clenched his jaw, restraining a sudden urge to strangle the cylon right then. When it became obvious that Adama had absolutely no intention of saluting him in return, Gaeta moved a little closer to him. Bill didn't flinch, but nodded towards Starbuck who eagerly walked forward and threw a punch right at Gaeta's stomach that sent him reeling to the ground. Starbuck looked back at the Admiral to see if he wanted her to deliver kick to the prisoner to compliment the punch, but he shook his head and she moved behind him again.

Gaeta was still on the floor, one hand holding his stomach, the other supporting him. "Admiral, please, there's something I have to say and I don't have much time to tell you."

"Go ahead." Adama was careful not to refer to the prisoner as 'Gaeta' or 'soldier' as he used to, he was trying to create a discernable difference from the memory of the man he had worked with for years and this cylon on the floor in front of him, even though he knew they were one in the same.

"The other Gaeta, the one that escaped with Baltar, is en route to the cylon home world. He found a way to use Baltar's defense networking software to rewrite all cylon coding, a way to change the programming of every cylon in the universe. On the home world there's a central mainframe that is networked to all cylons. Gaeta is going to gain access to it and essentially reprogram everything. The new program will contain a self-destruct component that will be executed immediately. All the cylons in the entire universe, me, Sharon, everyone, will cease to function. All memories will be totally erased, everything will be gone, the cylon race will no longer exist." Gaeta was out of breath and now relaxing against the wall again, still holding his stomach where Starbuck had hit him. His head was throbbing from the alcohol he had consumed out of desperation and the gash on his head that Sam Anders had given him earlier in the evening. Kara let out a little disbelieving laugh, rubbing her hands together and getting ready for an order from the Admiral to beat the frak out of him, but Adama just stared at Gaeta, and then squatted down to eyelevel with him.

Something inside Bill made him believe every word Gaeta had said. Remembering the conclusion he had drawn earlier, that this wasn't the typical cylon encounter, the only question the Admiral could think to ask was, "Why?"

"I've lived with you and your people for years and you have accepted me as one of your own, a fact I've no doubt you regret now, but I don't. You have a natural instinct for compassion and love that has to be slowly developed and cultivated within cylons, most would never experience those emotions even when given the opportunity. You've asked yourself this question the entire time you've been on the run from the cylons, and Admiral, yes, humans do deserve to live if for no reason other than to just experience love. And now you have a chance to make a new life for yourselves without my race hunting you and I won't let anything stand in the way of that. You've found Earth. The jump coordinates I gave you will get you there and the cylons won't be able to follow you. You have to go. I'm sorry . . ." Gaeta's voice trailed off as his body slowly slumped down and hit the ground. Bill ran forward to check his pulse, Starbuck right behind him.

After standing up and taking off his glasses to rub his eyes, Bill said, "He's dead. Whether or not he was telling the truth about the rest of it, I guess we'll just have to wait and find out. Captain, I want you to return to CIC and tell Col. Tigh what just happened and continue prep on the mission, I want everything back on schedule. And get a status report on Sharon Agathon, if she suddenly died, I want to know about it. Send Apollo to my quarters with a situation report as soon as you have it." 

"Yes Sir. But, shouldn't you be going to CIC . . ."

Adama started walking out of the cell and towards the hatch, "There's something I have to do first." Starbuck shrugged and watched the Admiral exit the room and turn in the direction of his quarters.

Gaeta's words rang in his ears, "_humans deserve to live if for no reason other than to just experience love._" That was the answer to a question Bill had constantly asked himself since the end of the first cylon war and Gaeta made it sound so simple. Love. He thought of all the times he had taken love for granted, with his ex-wife, with Lee and Zak, with Laura . . . He had to tell Laura that he loved her. He was sure she already knew it, but he needed to tell her. He thought about what the next few weeks would bring if everything Gaeta had said was right, which he believed it to be. The fleet would reach Earth and they would all start new lives. Bill suddenly realized that he wanted Laura Roslin in his life, for the rest of his life. Bill almost started running to his quarters when he decided that he was going to ask Laura to marry him.


	9. Chapter 9

She had been trying to get just the right amount of shading on the roof for the past few minutes. It was just a sketch, but she wanted it perfect anyway. Earlier, Laura had only been asleep for about 10 minutes when Lee had come in asking for his father. He had been surprised that she had been asleep on the couch and wondered why the President would be there if his father wasn't, but he had decided not to ask. After he left, Laura had been plagued by the same thoughts she had before her nap. The image of her cabin kept flashing in her head and she could think of only one way to get it out of her mind: to put it on paper. So after changing into the nightgown she kept hidden in the Admiral's closet, she had taken a notepad out of the briefcase she had left there earlier and a pencil from Bill's desk and sat down to draw. She started drawing the front of the house, the windows, the chimney (complete with smoke billowing out of the top from a fire Bill would have made), the front porch with two rocking chairs side-by-side, but the roof was giving her trouble, it was at an odd angle. She gave up and finished sketching the little path that led to the cabin and the mailbox at the end of the stone walkway. On the mailbox she neatly wrote the name, "Adama." She gave the picture a hopeless smile and was about to tear the page out of the notebook to throw it away when Bill walked in the room. She looked at him curiously. His face was red and he looked a little winded. Laura hoped that everything with the interrogation had gone well, but surely it hadn't if his current appearance was anything to judge by.

Bill looked at her, suddenly getting nervous about asking her what he had resolutely decided to ask her. He had asked two other women to marry him before, but there had always been a contingency plan if they had said no, his life would have gone on. But if Laura said no . . . Bill exiled the thought to the very back of his mind, because all that mattered at the moment was that he loved her and he was confident that that would be enough. She looked so natural on his couch, so at ease in his life. He smiled at her before saying, "See, I wasn't gone that long." He walked over to the decanter sitting on an end table and poured himself a glass of water. He swallowed it all in one gulp and poured another before heading over to Laura.

"Lee stopped by earlier looking for you. I told him you'd call when you got back."

"I'll call him later." Bill sat down on the couch and kissed Laura firmly on her lips. Any worries he had harbored about proposing to her vanished as she returned the kiss and put her hand on his leg. He pulled away and noticed the drawing in her lap. She hastily tried to close the notepad but it was too late, he already had it in his hand and was examining it. He had heard her talk about how she used to draw and paint when she lived in Caprica City, before their lives were turned upside down, but he had never seen anything she had done.

He immediately knew that the sketch was of her cabin. She had captured the essence of it so well, he could almost hear the water flowing in the stream behind it, could hear the birds chirping salutations to each other, could see Laura wrapped in a blanket and devouring a book in one of the rocking chairs. He wondered if she had intended to live there alone, in quiet tranquility. She quickly snatched the drawing away, her face bright red with embarrassment, but he put a tender hand on her wrist, stopping her from hiding it, and that's when he saw it, the mailbox. It had his name on it. 'Adama.' Nothing had ever looked so sweet and good to him in his entire life. Laura tried to distract him from it by changing the subject completely, "How did it go with Gaeta? Did he offer up any worthwhile information?"

"We can talk about it later, Laura." His voice was so deep, so caring, that Laura turned her head to him and looked into his blue eyes, unable to disagree with him. He hadn't had much time to think about this moment, about how he would ask her to be his wife, so all he could do was improvise. "I love you, Laura."

Laura chuckled nervously, "You don't have to say that just because I doodled your name on a silly mailbox."

Bill looked into her eyes, making it known that this was not up for deliberation. "I love you, Laura."

Laura swallowed the lump in her throat, knowing that this was going to be a serious conversation. "I love you too, Bill."

Bill smiled, looking more content than Laura had ever seen him. He took her hands in his and continued. "Laura, I can't promise you that we'll ever reach Earth, I can't promise you that we will ever do anything other than drift through space. And if there's one thing I've learned from the past few years, it's that we don't have control over that situation. You and I can't protect humanity from everything, no matter how hard we try, and we can't take responsibility for everything that happens to the fleet. But there are some aspects of our lives that we do have control over, some things that we have to take responsibility for. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or the day after that, but the one thing I am sure about is that I love you. I don't care about the press, or the Quorum, or your public approval rating, Laura, it's time for us to be together. I want to spend my life with you, whatever it amounts to be, I want to be with you."

Laura was stunned to hear the words coming out of Bill's mouth and even more stunned to see him getting off the couch and kneeling in front of her on one knee. "Laura Roslin, will you marry me?"

Laura's mind suddenly went blank, she couldn't think of what to say. She had never been truly speechless before, but she supposed there's a first time for everything. He didn't know why she didn't respond, why she didn't say anything. "Laura?"

Her eyes focused on him, her mind coming back to reality, and her face broke out into a smile that he was sure would have lit up the entire universe if he hadn't been taking it all in for himself. "Yes, Bill, I'll marry you."

Bill's smile mirrored Laura's and he stood up, pulling her with him. He put his arms around her waist and hugged her close to him and lifted her off the ground. She had her arms tightly around his neck and didn't let go even once he'd set her feet back on the rug. Bill wasted no time in laying claim to her lips and slyly let one hand drift below her waist to hold her buttocks, a gesture that made Laura let out a little giggle.

Bill was considering helping his fiancée out of that blue silk nightgown when someone knocked on the hatch. He groaned in defeat when Laura pulled away from him. She went to retrieve her robe from the closet and said, "The work of an Admiral is never done."

Bill walked over to the hatch and replied, "Remind me to get us a 'Do Not Disturb' sign." When he saw that Laura had her robe on and was modestly covered, he opened the hatch and saw his son standing on the other side. "Hello, son. What can I do for you." 

"Starbuck said you wanted me to deliver the report to you, Sir." He was confused as to why his father hadn't invited him in his quarters as usual, but his confusion disappeared when he saw the President walk up behind his father.

"Hello, Lee, it's nice to see you." 

"Likewise, Madame President." Although in actuality he wasn't too happy to see her at all, at least not in her nightgown and in his father's quarters. As if enough hadn't happened today . . .

"Bill, are you going to let your son in or not?" Laura winked at Lee before walking over to her briefcase and putting the notepad safely inside it.

"Of course, I'm sorry Lee, come in." Bill stepped to the side and let his son enter before closing the hatch. "Can I get you something to drink?" 

"Uh, no thanks Dad. Here are the reports you asked for." Lee handed him the file he was holding. "You were right to get a status report on Sharon, she died about the same time Gaeta did."

"Then there's a good chance that the entire cylon race died with them." Bill was flipping through the reports and seemed pleased with everything he was seeing.

"We're still trying to figure that out, but it's looking like everything Gaeta said was right. The recon mission is back on schedule, but with your permission I'll be flying instead of Helo, he's in no position to . . ."

"Excuse me, gentlemen, did you just say that the entire cylon race died? What exactly did Gaeta tell you? And why didn't you tell me earlier!" President Roslin was furious that she had been kept out of the loop and had a stern gaze fixed resolutely on the Admiral.

"If you'll recall, Madame President, I had a more urgent matter to discuss with you." Bill shot another look right back at her, one that would probably appear to Lee to be equally as stern as the one Roslin was giving him, but Laura could tell that he was teasing her.

"A more urgent matter, Sir?" Lee was too dense for his own good. While most officers would have understood the situation (or at least thought they understood the situation), Lee assumed that they had been talking about a pressing issue in the fleet, something that had to be really important if the Admiral talked to the President about it first before telling her about the results of the interrogation.

Bill's teasing look changed as he silently asked Laura if she thought it was an appropriate time to tell Lee about their engagement, but Laura had anticipated his question and before he could say anything, Laura had walked up to Bill and slipped her hand into his. "Lee, your father and I have something to tell you."

Lee's face suddenly went white as he realized what the 'urgent matter' most likely was. "I should sit down, shouldn't I?"

"Might not be a bad idea, son." Lee sat in one of the leather chairs as his father sat in the one opposite him and the President of the Twelve Colonies sat on the arm of the chair, pulling his father's hand into her lap. "Lee, Laura and I are getting married."

"I was afraid of that."

"What does that mean?" It was Bill's turn to be furious. His son always had to be negative about everything and could never give his father a break. Bill was prepared to ask Lee to leave before he could say anything he thought would upset Laura, but his son just sat there and a big smile crept onto his face.

"It means that I just lost a bet to Starbuck. I'm never going to live it down either." Lee stood up and walked in front of his dad and future stepmother and extended his hand to his father. "Congratulations." Bill stood up and took Lee's hand and pulled him into a hug. When they broke away, Lee turned to Laura and said, "Welcome to the family, Madame President."

"Call me Laura." She smiled, not only because she was relieved that Lee took it so well, but also because Bill had never looked so happy.

"Laura." Lee smiled and moved forward and hugged her. The hug caught her off guard, but she happily embraced him. When they let go, he took it as his cue to leave. "Well, um, I should probably get back to CIC. The two of you should get some sleep, it's been a really long day. I'm sure the reports can wait until the morning, Admiral."

Bill nodded and walked Lee to the door. "Goodnight Laura. Dad."

"Goodnight son." Bill was starting to close the hatch when he remembered one other thing he had to discuss with Apollo. "Lee, how many people know that Gaeta was a cylon?"

"Just a handful of people, Sir. Why?"

"I think it's best we keep it that way. I want to give him a soldier's funeral."

"Yes Sir." When Lee had left, Bill secured the hatch and looked back at his wife-to-be.

"So are you going to tell me what Gaeta said in the interrogation?"

"I think it can wait until morning, I have another 'urgent matter' to discuss with you." Bill walked towards her and started taking off his uniform jacket, making it very clear exactly what that 'urgent matter' was.


	10. Chapter 10

**I made a slight change to the end of Chapter 9. It's not really important, but if you're a big fan of Gaeta you might want to go back and read it.**

The next day, Dee had insisted that she and Lee host an engagement party for the Admiral and the President in their private quarters. Lee had told her that they were probably trying to keep their engagement a secret for now, so they decided to make the party a small gathering of close friends. They had invited Tigh, he was Bill's best friend after all, and Kara and Sam. Dee hated the thought of having Kara in her quarters, but she knew how much it would mean to the old man to have her there. So there they all were, all seven of them, cramped around Lee and Dee's small table and eating algae lasagna.

"So when's the big day? When are you two kids going to tie the knot?" Kara smiled, looking back and forth from the Admiral to the President, who were sitting across from her at the dinner table.

"We haven't really talked about that yet." Laura looked at Bill, wondering if he had any suggestions on the matter.

"Well, if everything goes according to plan and we end up on Earth in a few weeks, maybe we'll get married there, maybe on a beach with sun and wind and the smell of salt water." Bill looked back to Laura to see if she approved of the plan.

"That's very romantic of you Bill, but I think we should get married on Galactica." This was certainly not the response Bill had been anticipating and looked at her for further explanation. "It's been our home for the past few years. This is where we met, this is what brought us together, this is where our family is. We wouldn't be able to ensure that everyone would be able to be at our wedding if it were on Earth. And this is your ship, Bill, it just feels right to get married here."

Bill laughed, "And where do you propose we have the ceremony? In the hangar bay?"

Laura's eyes lit up and she held Bill's hand, "Yes! The hangar bay would be perfect. I know we agreed not to talk business tonight, but Lee, when are you and Kara leaving for the recon mission?"

"In four days."

"Then let's have the wedding in three days, Bill. I know it's short notice, but we both want Lee and Kara there, and everything's liable to get chaotic after the recon team returns and with the plans for settlement on Earth, who knows how the civilians and media will react. What do you think?" Laura also wanted to make sure that if something were to happen to Lee or Kara while on the mission, that they had been at the wedding, she knew that it would be important to Bill.

"It's going to be a media frenzy either way, Laura. And there are so many plans to make. It will obviously have to be a large state wedding, decorum demands it." Bill had said that just to get a rise out of Laura, he knew how much she hated decorum. He did too for that matter, but she knew he was right, the wedding of the Admiral and the President would have to be a big one. "And we have to get the hangar bay, if that's really where you want to get married, ready for the ceremony. We have to make security plans for the entire government and most of the military being in one place at the same time, I don't even know where to start with that . . ."

Laura smiled and cut him off, "And I have to get a dress, try to dig up some rings, find someone to bake a large algae cake. I know it's a lot of work, Bill, but I think we can do it. Please?" She squeezed his hand and smiled at him, a smile she knew he couldn't say 'no' to.

"To answer your question, Kara, we're getting married in three days. Which means that you," Bill squeezed Laura's hand and looked her directly in the eyes because he knew she wouldn't like what he had to say, "you have to tell Tory about us, about the wedding, about everything. Tonight."

Laura grimaced at the thought of telling her aid, she knew Tory would be furious that she had kept the relationship a secret from her and would be even more furious at the obscene amount of work that she would have to do in the next three days. "Do I have to? She's going to kill me."

"She's not going to kill you, you're engaged to the Admiral of the Fleet. She'll probably yell at you for a few minutes, but then she'll arrange a press conference for you to confess all to the public and everything will be fine." Laura smiled, hoping Bill was right and that the next three days would go smoothly.


	11. Chapter 11

When Laura arrived on Colonial One the next morning, she found Tory eagerly waiting to get started on the massive agenda she had compiled for the President, and as she handed it to her, Laura became convinced it was the longest agenda any President of the Twelve Colonies had ever seen. While Laura sipped on her second cup of coffee that morning, Tory sat down across from her and took it upon herself to introduce her to the schedule for the day.

"The first thing on the agenda this morning is a press conference in 20 minutes during which you will inform them that you are marrying the Admiral. I don't know what you plan on telling them, but whatever you say, please don't tell them that it's none of their business, the public doesn't respond well to that. Immediately after that you're meeting Lieutenant Dualla to search for a wedding dress on the Rising Star, she claims that she heard they have an extensive collection of rentable clothing there." Tory was practically out of breath and took a brief moment to breathe and then began to talk faster, obviously anxious about the immense amount of work to be done. "After that you're coming back to Colonial One to meet with each Quorum member individually. Remember, you have requested these meetings, so please be patient with them, they'll undoubtedly have many reservations about a literal union between the military and civilian government." Tory paused for another moment and before she could start again she felt Laura's hand lightly pat her own.

"Breathe Tory, calm down, it's just a wedding. We're just going to slow down and do this one thing at a time." Laura was saying that as much for her own benefit as for Tory's. She knew that her work load would be doubled over the next few days and she was starting to get just as anxious as Tory, but she didn't let her face or demeanor show any of her anxiety. "Is that all I have scheduled for today?"

"Um, no, Madame President, that's all before 12:00. After your meetings with the Quorum members, you're going to be shuttled over to Galactica where you will attend the final pre-flight briefing for the confidential mission that you won't even tell me about." Tory sounded especially upset that the President was still keeping secrets from her and couldn't imagine what could possibly be more secretive than the relationship between the President and the Admiral. "After that you are going to the galley to talk with the chefs about designing a cake for the wedding reception, and if you're lucky they'll give you something to eat during the meeting. Then you're meeting with the priest and the Admiral in his quarters for pre-marriage counseling . . ." 

"Pre-marriage counseling? Surely we can take that out of the agenda, it's not necessary."

"The priest said that he wouldn't perform the ceremony without it, I'm afraid it's not an option. After that you'll come back to Colonial One for a meeting with the Quorum regarding the progress in Baltar's trial . . ." 

"That meeting will have to be cancelled, Tory. I'll talk to the Quorum members individually about it, but that meeting is no longer needed." After all, Laura thought, Baltar was either dead or stranded in some faraway star system, either way he wasn't going to have a trial. 

"With all due respect, even though you now have a wedding to prepare for, you can't neglect your duties as President."

"Tory, I am not, nor will I ever neglect my duties to the people of this fleet, but you'll have to trust me, that meeting is not necessary. Cancel it." Laura was very firm in her response and Tory knew that it was useless to try to persuade her otherwise.

"Yes, Madame President." Tory scrawled something on her small notebook and then looked up at the President as Laura spoke.

"I suppose I would be naïve to assume that that is all you have scheduled for me today?"

"I was hoping you would consent to an interview with The Colonial Gang for tonight's show. I think it would be beneficial for the public to hear you speak candidly about your relationship with the Admiral."

Laura didn't really like the idea of discussing her personal relationship with three nosy reporters, but she had to agree that the public would probably be more accepting of it if she would talk to them about it. "Yes, that's fine Tory."

"Then you have a meeting with Tom Zarek, he was rather adamant about talking to you personally, I told him this wasn't a good day, but he said something about it never being a good day for prisoners on the Astral Queen." Tory was obviously irritated by Zarek's demand to see Laura, but after all, he is the Vice President. "And Captain Karl Agathon has requested an audience with you. He said that he wanted to discuss something about his wife's death? I told him I didn't think you were the appropriate person to talk to about it . . ." 

"Of course I'll see Mr. Agathon. That is, if you can fit him into my schedule."

"I'll see what I can do, Madame President." Tory continued, her business voice unwavering, as she asked a question that would have made Billy blush from head to toe. "Will you be having a bachelorette party before the wedding?"

Laura looked startled and surprised by this question. "Absolutely not, Tory. I don't feel that it would be appropriate."

Tory just nodded, making another note in her notebook. "Do you intend to move to Galactica?"

"Yes, I do. But I want to keep my offices here on Colonial One. The morning commute will be tough, but I think I can handle it." Laura's playful smile and mild attempt at lightening the conversation fell on deaf ears as Tory proceeded.

"In that case I will try to have most of your personal items packed and delivered to Galactica this evening, but you should do a final check when you're over here tonight anyway. And I've made a list of decisions that need to be made regarding the wedding reception so if you and the Admiral can find time to go over it and send it back to me by the end of the day I can start working on it." Laura took the piece of paper her aid handed her and slipped it onto the pile of files in front of her.

"Of course. Thank you, Tory. I really appreciate your help with all of this, I know it's not your job to arrange a wedding, but it means a lot to me, thank you."

"You're welcome, Madame President." Tory left the office and although Laura should have been preparing what she was going to say at the press conference, all she could think about was that Bill made much better coffee than Tory.


	12. Chapter 12

While Laura was enacting her full agenda, Bill had been creating a detailed security plan for the wedding ceremony. The plan was so complex it made his head spin and when he finally looked up at the clock he realized that he was about to be late for the pre-flight briefing if he didn't hurry, so he left his quarters and went directly to the wardroom.

When he walked through the hatch he saw his fiancée's red hair across the room where she was reviewing a file. He nodded to Saul and Lee who were going over some diagrams and went over to Laura. He bent down and before she knew what was happening, Bill had placed a solid kiss directly on her lips. A blush surfaced on her face as she pulled away from him and gently placed her hand on his shoulder to chastise him about public displays of affection. "Admiral, please, this is a briefing . . ."

Bill bent down and kissed her again, making her blush more fervently. "I'm sorry Madame President, I was under the impression we were getting married the day after tomorrow." He smiled at her, captivated by her blush, and sat down next to her. "I listened to the press conference this morning, I'm sorry I couldn't be there. It sounded like it went well though."

Laura sighed, remembering the incessant questions the reporters had asked her. "As well as could be expected, I suppose."

"And how did everything go with Dee? Did you find a dress?"

Bill was anxious to hear her response and hoped she would describe it to him, but she left her answer mildly ambiguous, having already decided that she wanted to keep the dress a secret from him until he saw her walking down the aisle. "Let's just say that Dee and I were successful."

Bill frowned but before it could become a full-fledged pout he continued asking her about her day. "Should I even ask how your meetings with the Quorum members went?"

"They were rather stunned at the news of our engagement but they weren't nearly as negative about it as I thought they'd be."

"They're not afraid that I'll brainwash you and start making all of your official Presidential decisions for you?"

"Quite the contrary, they're thrilled at the prospect of the military doing everything the civilian government wants it to." They both began quietly laughing at themselves.

While they had been talking, the rest of the group had assembled around the tables and were waiting for Adama and Roslin to finish their conversation, but at the sound of their laughter Tigh's patience ran out. "If it's ok with the two of you, we'd like to go ahead and have this pre-flight briefing."

Just when Laura thought her face couldn't get any redder she was proven wrong as she noticed that the entire room had been staring at them for the past few moments, clearly hearing every word of their conversation.

After Bill was certain that Saul had understood that his comment was out of line, he decided to begin the briefing. "Captain Apollo, if you'd like to go ahead and start."

"Of course." Lee stood up and walked to the diagrams he had posted on the far wall and began detailing the specific steps and components of the impending mission. Everyone was authentically involved and interested with everything Captain Adama said even though the meeting lasted about two hours. Once everyone understood and was satisfied with the mission plan, Admiral Adama dismissed them back to their normal duties, leaving him alone in the room with the President.

Laura stood up and began putting files back in her briefcase. "Are you coming with me to help taste the best cakes the galley has to offer?"

"No, I'm afraid I'm not, I still have a lot of work to do on the security plan for the wedding."

"In that case I suppose I'll see you in your quarters later for pre-marital counseling. Whose idea was that anyway?"

Bill saw her exasperatingly roll her eyes and heard a tinge of a whine in her voice. "It might not be a bad idea, Laura."

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him, glanced at the clock on the wall, and turned towards the door. "If you'll excuse me, Admiral, I'm expected in the galley."

"Of course Madame President, I don't want to keep you from your cake tasting." He picked up his files with one hand and slipped the other around her waist, holding her lightly. "I'll see you later."

She put her hand on his elbow, "I'll be back in your quarters as soon as I can." She leaned in and kissed him softly and Bill's grip on her tightened.

"They're _our _quarters, Laura."

"In that case, Admiral, I will see you later in _our_ quarters." She kissed him again and eased out of his grip and walked out of the room, turned back to look at him just before she stepped through the hatch, smiled, and left.


End file.
